Ecological Engineering 100 (2017) 231–236

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Ecological Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoleng

Pilot-scale testing of a passive water treatment system for Kumtor

gold mine demonstrates beneficial microbes mediate treatment of
ammonia produced from cyanide destruction
Vanessa Friesen a , Jordyn Bergsveinson a , Ben Ferris b , Monique Haakensen a,c,d,∗
a
Contango Strategies, Ltd., 15-410 Downey Road, Saskatoon, SK S7N 4N1, Canada
b
Kumtor Gold Company, 24 Ibraimov Street, Bishkek, 720031, Kyrgyzstan
c
University of Saskatchewan, School of Environmental Sustainability, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5C8, Canada
d
Clemson University, Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, Clemson, SC, 29634, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A pilot-scale passive water treatment system (PTS) was constructed to model ammonia treatment efficacy
Received 1 May 2016 for water discharged from the effluent treatment plant at the Kumtor gold mine in eastern Kyrgyzstan.
Received in revised form The pilot-scale PTS design compared two treatment series, both consisting of an unplanted, gravel cell,
15 December 2016
followed by a cell planted with one of two different species of emergent macrophyte (Carex) taken from
Accepted 16 December 2016
the Kumtor site. Regardless of the hydraulic retention time tested (HRT; 3–18 h), on average approxi-
mately 19% of the ammonia was removed by the systems. However, 3–5 times more ammonia load was
Keywords:
removed at faster flow rates (HRT between 3.0 and 4.5 h). Within each PTS system, the unplanted, gravel
Ammonia treatment wetland
Gold mining
cell removed a greater percentage of the total ammonia treated than the (B) cells with either vegetation
Nitrification type. This was likely due to depletion of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the (A) cells proportional to ammonia
Microbial community profiling oxidation at these HRT, thus limiting DO available in (B) cells for further treatment. Microbial community
Passive water treatment profiling of the pilot-scale systems revealed a greater proportion of known ammonia-oxidizing bacteria
Pilot-scale optimization Nitrosomonas in (A) cells compared to (B) cells. Pilot-scale testing suggested that depleted DO is respon-
sible for the finite extent of removal, and aeration methods to increase the dissolved oxygen content
may further improve treatment. Ultimately the data from this study demonstrates that HRT affects the
treatment kinetics of ammonia treatment, while extent of treatment is limited by availability of dissolved
oxygen. The results of the pilot-scale testing suggest that passive treatment of ammonia is possible for
discharge waters of the effluent treatment plant at the Kumtor Mine, and can be used to inform the design
and size requirements of a full-scale system.
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction into the Kumtor River. A by-product of this cyanide destruction is

The Kumtor Gold Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cen-
terra Gold Inc., is 100% owner and operator of the Kumtor Gold
Project (Kumtor) – an open cut mining operation at >4000 m above
sea level in the Tien Shan mountains in the Jeti Oguz district of
the Issyk-Kul region of eastern Kyrgyzstan. After gold is extracted,
residual cyanide and heavy metals are treated in the mine’s INCO
Sulfur Dioxide/Air Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP), prior to discharge
∗ Corresponding author at: Contango Strategies, Ltd., 15-410 Downey Road, Saska-
toon, SK S7N 4N1, Canada.
E-mail addresses: vfriesen@contangostrategies.com (V. Friesen),
jbergsveinson@contangostrategies.com (J. Bergsveinson), Ben Ferris@kumtor.com
(B. Ferris), mhaakensen@contangostrategies.com (M. Haakensen).
ammonia. Effluent treatment and discharge only occur seasonally
between May and October when the tailings storage facility pond
and local rivers are not frozen. In efforts to further improve effluent
water quality, a phased program was undertaken to develop a pas-
sive treatment system (PTS) to decrease ammonia concentrations
from the ETP discharge (Haakensen et al., 2015).
In any aquatic environment, the concentration of ammonia and
ammonium ions is in equilibrium which is influenced by factors
such as pH and temperature. While it is recognized that these
two ions exist in equilibrium within water, both are referred to
in this manuscript collectively as ammonia as that is the form
that is hypothesized to be biologically oxidized (Kowalchuck and
Stephen, 2001). Ammonia can be treated by several mechanisms,
including oxidation to nitrite or nitrate via chemical oxidation or
biological/microbiological nitrification; reduction to nitrogen gas

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.12.029
0925-8574/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
232 V. Friesen et al. / Ecological Engineering 100 (2017) 231–236

via the microbiological anammox reaction; and assimilation by

plants and microbes (Kowalchuck and Stephen, 2001; Mokhele
et al., 2012; Yu et al., 2014). The oxidative biological pathway was
targeted for passive treatment in this case as biological reduc-
tion of ammonia via the anammox pathway is slower and carried
out by fewer organisms than nitrification (Kartel et al., 2013).
Ammonia-oxidizing (nitrifying) microbes are generally considered
to be ubiquitous in soils, freshwater and marine environments
(Kartel et al., 2013; Koops and Moller, 1992), and have previously
been found at high altitudes (Zhang et al., 2009), including the Kum-
tor Mine site (Haakensen and Pittet, 2014). Moreover, nitrification
can occur at near-freezing temperatures (Choi et al., 2008; Miazga-
Rodriguez et al., 2012; Zaitsev et al., 2008), which is conducive for
treatment at Kumtor as during the months of treated effluent dis-
charge (May–October), the temperatures of ETP discharge water
range from +2.4 ◦ C to +15.7 ◦ C, with an average of +11.6 ◦ C.
The stoichiometry of ammonia oxidation suggests a hypothet-
ical ratio of 3.43 mg of dissolved oxygen (DO) is needed per mg of
ammonia (as N) to be oxidized to nitrite. Although there will be vari-
ability based on treatment wetland design (and therefore resulting
microbial populations performing the reactions), alternative path- Fig. 1. Kumtor pilot-scale PTS layout for ammonia treatment.
ways with lower oxygen demands have been described in wetlands,
requiring only 1.14 mg of O2 per mg of ammonia (as N) (Kadlec and
ing beneficial microbes and soil stabilization, and greater above
Wallace, 2009). Based on these ratios, and the DO of approximately
ground biomass (i.e., putatively greater annual nitrogen require-
7 mg/L recorded in the ETP discharge area during the site visit in
ments), thus suggesting it may be a better candidate for ammonia
August 2014 (Haakensen and Pittet, 2014), the hypothetical extent
treatment. While it was not possible to identify the shorter Carex
of treatment in a passive wetland at the ETP site is expected to be
sp. to a species level due to a lack of fruiting bodies, it was found
between 1.45 and 4.39 mg/L of ammonia (as N) for conversion to
growing in the ETP discharge waters and thus confirmed to prefer
nitrite (as a conservative estimate with the assumption that nitri-
growing in those water chemistries and flow rates.
fication only occurs if DO ≥ 2 mg/L). If nitrite is then converted to
A gravel substrate channel system was implemented, with two
nitrate, additional DO requirements are imposed on the system,
systems each containing two cells (Fig. 1). The greenhouse tem-
decreasing the amount of ammonia that can be oxidized with given
perature was set to +14 ◦ C with a 6 ◦ C setback at night, and a 12 h
water DO concentration. It is therefore anticipated that a PTS could
daylight period (42 W/m2 ). Diurnal fluctuation of water tempera-
be designed to remove between 1.5–4.5 mg/L of ammonia (as N)
ture was between +8 to +14 ◦ C, which mimicked temperatures of
from ETP discharge waters, without the need of additional oxygena-
the water to be treated on site. All cells had a diameter of 41 cm
tion (e.g., mechanical aeration or passive aeration using gravity and
(surface area of 1320 cm2 ) and a height of 57 cm, with washed
channels).
pea gravel substrate laid to a depth of 47 cm with approximately
It is well known that PTS must be designed in a site-specific
2 cm of water overlaying the gravel. Total water volume of water
manner to be robust, sustainable, and predictable (Haakensen et al.,
in each cell was 26.9 L, including both the pore space and over-
2015; Rodgers and Castle, 2008). To design a site-specific PTS
laid water. The first cell (A) of both systems was not planted, while
with the best treatment capacity for the available footprint in the
the second cell (B) was planted with either C. songorica (System
remote Kumtor location, treatment wetlands were designed with
1), or the Carex sp. (System 2; Fig. 1 and Fig. B1). This configura-
the objective of microbiological ammonia oxidation, and evaluating
tion allowed for determination of the extent of treatment mediated
plant uptake as a secondary means of treatment. A phased pro-
solely by microbes (A) compared to plants (B), and between plant
gram was implemented (Haakensen et al., 2015), which included
types (System 1(B) vs. System 2(B)). Further, it provided informa-
a site assessment for feasibility of passive water treatment, con-
tion for the likely scenario where the future full-scale system at
ceptual design, pilot-scale testing and optimization in a controlled
Kumtor is planted, but in shoulder seasons when plants are not
setting, onsite demonstration-scale confirmation and optimization,
actively growing.
and full-scale implementation. The findings from the third phase,
For each System, (A) cells are gravel only and (B) cells are
pilot-scale testing and optimization of two wetland configurations,
planted. System 1 (B) cell (thick dashed line) is planted with C.
are discussed here.
songorica and System 2 (B) cell (dotted line) is planted with Carex
sp.
2. Materials and methods
2.1.1. Hydraulic retention time
2.1. Pilot-scale system design The available area for construction at the Kumtor Mine and
current ETP discharge rates (approximately 1500 m3 /hour on aver-
The pilot-scale PTS were constructed in year-round greenhouses age) was used to calculate nominal hydraulic retention time (HRT)
at the Contango Strategies Ltd. Treatability Testing Facility in Saska- ranges. These HRT were in turn used to calculate the flow rates
toon, SK. Pilot-scale testing was conducted in replicate systems tested at pilot scale in this study. Four different nominal HRT were
planted with two different aquatic Carex species harvested from used to assess ammonia treatment capacity (Table 1). Period I cor-
the Kumtor Mine site (Haakensen and Pittet, 2014). These are Carex responded to the longest HRT of 17.9 h (50 mL/min); Period II with
songorica and a smaller, fine leafed but unidentified Carex species 11.2 h HRT (80 mL/min); Period III with 4.5 h HRT (200 mL/min);
(Photographs in Fig. B1). The taller C. songorica was found on site in and Period IV with the shortest HRT of 3 h (300 mL/min). These
a pond of standing water (unrelated to ETP discharge), with a deep four different HRT were selected to evaluate the rate and extent of
root depth (>1 m), allowing for increased surface area for harbour- ammonia treatment and therefore size the full-scale wetland.
 V. Friesen et al. / Ecological Engineering 100 (2017) 231–236 233

Table 1
Operational timeline, nominal HRT, and associated estimated size for pilot-scale PTS.

Datea Event Period Flow rate mL/min HRT (hrs) Equivalent size
(m3 /h) (hectares) for
treatment of 1500 m3 /h

Day 0 Pilot-scale systems constructedb Not applicableb

Day 15–18 Acclimation with simulated influent water 20 Not applicable
Day 19–41 I 50 17.9 6.15
(0.003)
Testing
Day 61–75 II 80 11.2 3.84
(0.005)
Day 41–61 III 200 4.5 1.54
(0.012)
Day 75–93 IV 300 3.0 1.03
(0.018)
a
Dates are not chronological in table as the order is based on periods of testing with different HRT.
b
Dechlorinated municipal tap water used in system during maturation. Flow rates set at approximately 200 mL/min.

Table 2 ration and sequencing was performed as per the manufacturer’s

Simulated influent water general chemistrya .
Water Parameter Average
pH (SU) 8.16
DO (mg/L) 8.59
Conductivity (␮S/cm) 2374
ORP (mV) +273
Ammonia (mg/L as N) 20.4b
Alkalinity (mg CaCO3 /L) 113
Hardness (mg CaCO3 /L) 900
a
For complete simulated water chemistry tested see Table A1.
b
Range of ammonia concentration tested: 18.9–24.7 (mg/L as N).
2.1.2. Water
The water chemistry for pilot-scale testing of ammonia treat-
ment was simulated to match the average concentrations from
2013 to 2014 Kumtor Mine ETP discharge (Table A1). Constant flow
metering pumps were used to distribute the simulated water to
each pilot-scale system.
2.2. Routine monitoring
2.2.1. Water sampling
Pilot-scale systems were monitored weekly for in situ explana-
tory parameters of DO (mg/L), temperature (◦ C), pH, conductivity
(␮S/cm), and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP; mV) using a YSI
Professional Plus handheld unit (Table 2 and A2). These parame-
ters are quantifiable aspects of a PTS environment that can be used
to assess feasibility of treatment for constituents of interest, and
therefore ‘explain’ the performance of a PTS (Rodgers and Castle,
2008).
Water samples for ammonia concentration analysis were col-
lected from outflow ports of each PTS cell, and also from the influent
holding tank and feed tubes. Samples were collected from down-
stream to upstream to ensure water sampling did not affect sample
collection from the next cell (e.g., disrupting flow rates or suspend-
ing solids). All samples were collected according to the schedule
in Table A2. Ammonia concentrations were determined with an
accuracy of ±1%, using the High Performance Ammonia Ion Selec-
tive Electrode, and Thermo Scientific Orion Star ISE Multiparameter
Meter with 0.1 M ammonia chloride standard.
2.2.2. Targeted metagenomic 16S rRNA sequencing and analysis
Swab samples of the gravel were collected according to the
schedule in Table A2 and DNA was extracted using the MO BIO Pow-
ersoil Powerlyzer DNA extraction kit. Targeted DNA sequencing
was used to identify bacteria present in each sample using poly-
merase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the v3/v4 region of the
16S ribosomal RNA gene (Klindworth et al., 2013). Library prepa-
instructions for MiSeq v3 paired-end 300 bp sequencing (Illumina)
for all samples and positive and negative controls.
After sequencing, the forward and reverse reads were merged
using PANDAseq (Masella et al., 2012). All raw sequences were fil-
tered to remove low quality reads based on the following criteria:
average quality less than Q30, shorter than 350 bp, not having an
exact match to the forward primer, and having any base called
as N (unknown). Bioinformatics pipelines consisting of internally
developed scripts and selected QIIME scripts (Caporaso et al., 2010;
Edgar, 2010) were used to process the reads. Similar sequences
were clustered into groups called Operational Taxonomic Units
(OTUs) using a 97% identity threshold and the pick de novo otus.py
script. All OTUs with less than 10 representative sequences across
all samples were discarded as a quality-filtering step to remove
OTUs that may have arisen due to sequencing errors. Taxonomic
classification of the OTUs was performed using the Greengenes
database version 13 8 (DeSantis et al., 2006; McDonald et al., 2012).
Simpsons Reciprocal Index was calculated to determine the diver-
sity of each sample.
3. Results and discussion
Parameters known to aid in predicting the rate and extent of
ammonia treatment include pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and alka-
linity (Beebe et al., 2015). The HRT may also be an important
aspect to consider in PTS design for ammonia treatment of min-
ing impacted waters, as it has been shown to affect nitrification
rates and performance in conventional activated sludge systems (Li
et al., 2013). Here, the effect that HRT and the absence or presence
of plants has on ammonia removal kinetics of the overall system
was assessed through pilot-scale testing of a PTS system.
During Period I (HRT 17.9 h; Table 1), the C. songorica system
removed on average 4.1 mg/L ammonia as N (19%), and the Carex
sp. system removed on average 4.4 mg/L (20%; Fig. 2 and Table 3).
A shorter HRT of 11.2 h was tested in Period II to determine effi-
cacy of ammonia removal with less contact time of water in the
system. The extent of ammonia removal from cells at the 11.2 h
HRT compared to the 17.9 h HRT was comparable, with an average
3.6 mg/L of ammonia as N (18% of total ammonia as N in this period)
removed with the C. songorica design, while the Carex sp. removed
on average 4.0 mg/L (21%; Table 3).
Error bars indicate standard deviation. Period I–IV (shapes) cor-
respond to different nominal HRT as per Table 3, with solid blue
lines for systems with C. songorica and dotted green lines for sys-
tems with Carex sp.
Capacity for ammonia treatment at shorter HRT was tested
to refine the size requirements of a full-scale system. Accord-
ingly, flow rates were increased in Periods III and IV to provide
234 V. Friesen et al. / Ecological Engineering 100 (2017) 231–236
Table 3
Average ammonia removal in pilot-scale systems at different nominal HRT.
Period Calculated HRT (h) Average decrease of ammonia
(mg/L as N)
System1b System2
I 17.9 4.1 4.4
II 11.2 3.6 4.0
III 4.5 4.0 4.6
IV 3.0 3.2 3.7
a
The total amount removed by the system will be determined by the dissolved oxygen available; this rate only applies for this water chemistry PTS design, and until
dissolved oxygen has been depleted to approximately 2 mg/L.
b
System 1 planted with C. songorica; System 2 planted with Carex sp.
Fig. 2. Amount of ammonia (as N) removed from each system at different nominal
HRT.
HRT of 4.5 and 3 h in the system, respectively (Table 1). The PTS
achieved between 17 and 21% ammonia removal during these faster
flowing periods (Table 3). It is noteworthy that the rate kinetics
of ammonia treatment improved as the hydraulic retention time
decreased (Fig. 2), as despite having an increased ammonia load
with increased flow rate, the systems maintained a ∼4 mg/L ammo-
nia as N removal with shorter HRT. Thus, the treatment capacity
at shorter HRT indicate that a similar load of ammonia could be
removed from the ETP discharge with a smaller footprint, and meet
the stoichiometric expectation of removing between 1.5–4.5 mg/L
of ammonia as N without need for aeration (Fig. 2 and Table 3).
Given that the onsite ETP discharge flow is expected to be similar
to that of Periods III and IV, this finding allows for a smaller footprint
to be constructed at full-scale.
Pilot-scale testing of unplanted (A) cells also estimated treat-
ment capacity during early spring or late fall before plants are
growing, or in case there is any difficulty in establishing vegeta-
tion in the full scale system (i.e., the wetland may dry out when
the ETP is not discharging). Of the total ammonia removed, there
is slightly higher removal in unplanted (A) cells (60–70% of total
removal) relative to (B) cells at lower HRT (higher flow rates in
Periods II, III and IV; Fig. 2), while during Period I, there was more
treatment in the planted (B) cells. Practically, this indicates that the
treatment wetland would have treatment capacity in the shoulder
seasons when plants are not actively growing. Importantly how-
ever, it was noted that dissolved oxygen decreased to as low as
2 mg/L in (B) cells at lower HRT (data not shown), proportional
to the increased concentration of ammonia oxidation during these
periods (Fig. 2 and Table 3), and therefore, a treatment plateau was
reached under these conditions in (B) cells. Across Periods II, III,
and IV, the pilot-scale systems used on average 1.58 mg/L of DO
per mg of ammonia (as N) oxidized. This is slightly above the hypo-
Average percent removal Ammonia (as N) treateda
of ammonia (as N) (mg/day per m2 )
System 1 System 2 System 1 System 2
19% 20% 1118 1200
18% 21% 1571 1745
18% 21% 4364 5018
17% 20% 5236 6055
thetical ratio of 1.14:1 mg/L for biological oxidation of ammonia
to nitrite in treatment wetlands (Kadlec and Wallace, 2009), but
well below the ration of 3.43:1 based on stoichiometry for ammo-
nia oxidation. Conversely, Period I (with the slowest flow rate of
50 mL/min) had a calculated ratio of 0.2:1, which is likely due to
the longer HRT allowing for greater DO contributions from photo-
synthesis and atmospheric diffusion to the process. Therefore, the
DO leaving the system was not as low as other periods with faster
flow rate and lower HRT. The data ultimately indicates that with-
out aeration, ammonia treatment for the ETP discharge water can
be achieved using an HRT between 3.0 and 4.5 h (Table 3). How-
ever, increasing DO concentrations (e.g., passive or active aeration)
would likely provide conditions for increased extent of ammonia
treatment (Beebe et al., 2015).
The finding that unplanted (A) cells had better ammonia treat-
ment capacity than that of planted (B) cells in Periods II, III and IV
(Fig. 2), may be a result of the associated microbial populations.
This finding is in agreement with other studies that found micro-
bial pathways, and not other factors such as evapotranspiration or
plant ammonia assimilation, can account for up to 90% of ammonia
removal in constructed wetland treatment systems (Demin et al.,
2001). To assess the microbiological aspect of treatment in these
systems, samples were collected from each cell over the course of
the pilot-scale testing and subjected to targeted genetic sequenc-
ing of the microbial 16S rRNA gene. These analyses confirmed that
known nitrifying (i.e., ammonia-oxidizing) bacterial genus Nitro-
somonas, (98% ID) was more abundant in (A) cells relative to (B)
cells, comprising between 22% and 35% of C. songorica and Carex sp.
system (A) cells, respectively (Fig. 3).
Comparison of the microbial community profiles in each pilot-
scale PTS cell with microbes found at the Kumtor site indicated
that ∼40–70% of the microbial populations that established in the
pilot-scale systems were organisms similar to the ones found onsite
(Haakenesen and Pittet, 2014). This finding held constant during
the different periods sampled (Fig. 3), as different flow rates/HRT
(i.e., Periods) did not notably affect the overall community com-
position but instead only small shifts in relative abundance were
observed. Interestingly, the microbial communities in each cell of
the two pilot-scale PTS were very similar to each other, sharing a
high degree of overlap in terms of both OTU community composi-
tion and relative abundance (Fig. 3), however, notable differences
in abundance and presence of specific organisms from unplanted
(A) and planted (B) cells exist in both systems (Fig. 3). The different
populations in the (A) vs. (B) cells may be related to the higher
concentration of ammonia flowing into the unplanted (A) cells
allowing a greater relative proportion of ammonia-oxidizing bac-
teria to establish. Alternatively, it is also likely that the vegetation
in the (B) cells is altering the microbial population.
Although the unplanted cells performed well at pilot scale, a
planted system may perform better in a full-scale scenario, as the
plants can promote structural stability of the substrate, provide
habitats for microbial populations, and possibly aid in establishing
 V. Friesen et al. / Ecological Engineering 100 (2017) 231–236
Fig. 3. Percent abundance of the most abundant OTUs in all PTS cells.
Percentage of each OTU in the bacterial community is provided for all sampling time points for (A) and (B) PTS cells. “All Others” indicates OTUs that are not found at >5%
relative abundance in the PTS cells. Solid colored OTUs indicate those found abundant in PTS cell and also onsite (above line in legend). OTUs in bar chart with diagonal
lines indicate those were not found in the samples tested from the Kumtor site (below grey bar in legend). Nitrosomonas is crosshatched, as it was not detected in onsite
communities via 16S rRNA sequencing, however the amoA gene for ammonia oxidation was.
a more favourable hydrology to the system. Pilot-scale testing sug-
gests that C. songorica may be useful for inclusion in the full-scale
PTS as it was highly amenable to transplanting and propagation,
with little to no mortality (>95% survival) and had a large increase
in plant numbers from new shoots. Further, it established a dense
layer of vegetation, with deeper roots than the other Carex sp. (Fig.
B2). In comparison, the shorter Carex sp. had more than 75% mortal-
ity in the nursery systems that were used prior to transplantation
into the pilot-scale systems. Only after several months in the pilot-
scale systems did the Carex sp. begin to establish, although plants
remained weak in appearance and had sparse shoots and shallow
roots (Figs. B1 and B2). However, given the similar overall treat-
ment efficacy and capacity of the two plant systems (C. songorica
∼18% and Carex sp. ∼20.5% average ammonia removal across all
periods, respectively) (Fig. 2 and Table 3), either plant types are
viable options for inclusion in full-scale PTS design.
Ultimately, the data demonstrates that the extent of ammo-
nia removal is governed by the availability of dissolved oxygen,
while the dissolved oxygen does not impact the rate of removal (as
confirmed by the HRT testing). Rather, microbial populations were
capable of carrying out the same extent of ammonia oxidation at
the various HRT tested, up to and beyond the relative HRT expected
in a full scale system at the Kumtor Mine. While the system per-
formed consistently well, at the fastest flow rates (shorter HRT)
tested, 6055 mg/day ammonia as N was removed per m2 of PTS;
while at slower flow rates (longer HRT), only 1118 mg/day/m2 was
removed (Table 3). Thus, while ammonia treatment is possible at a
wide range of HRT at cool temperatures, pilot-scale testing allows
for the HRT to be optimized for treatment efficacy given objec-
tives and/or parameters for total ammonia load, required extent
of removal, footprint, and periodicity.
4. Conclusions
The pilot-scale PTS developed for the Kumtor Mine ETP dis-
charge demonstrated that average treatment of 19% of ammonia
235
was possible by passive means at temperatures ranging from +8 to
+14 ◦ C. Further, this treatment was observed for variable HRT dura-
tions ranging from 3 to 18 h, although optimal ammonia treatment
(greatest load per day) was achieved at lower HRT (between 3.0
and 4.5 h). Treatment during lower HRT during Periods II, III and IV
was relatively higher in unplanted (A) cells compared to planted
(B) cells, and microbial-community profiling revealed that (A) cells
contained a higher proportion of the known ammonia-oxidizing
bacteria, Nitrosomonas. However, the greater treatment observed
in (A) cells at lower HRT resulted in a decrease of available DO for
treatment in subsequent (B) cells. Therefore, HRT testing confirmed
that although the availability of DO can be extent limiting, it is not
rate limiting. Pilot-scale testing allowed for determination that the
same extent of ammonia oxidation overall was observed at the var-
ious HRT tested, up to and beyond the relative HRT expected in a
full-scale system at the Kumtor Mine. If these had not been tested
at pilot scale, an oversized PTS may have been constructed. If a
greater extent of ammonia treatment is warranted, steps may be
undertaken to introduce greater concentrations of DO (e.g., pas-
sive aeration using gravity and channels or active forced aeration).
Overall, this study demonstrates that the site-specific design and
pilot-scale testing of PTS for water treatment needs can inform
appropriate on-site design decisions in a cost-effective and efficient
manner.
Acknowledgements
J. Liang and A. Stewart performed all laboratory work related to
microbial processing and sequencing. K. Haakensen aided with con-
struction of pilot-scale systems. J. Kearns and R. Martz maintained
and monitored pilot-scale systems. E. Tissier assisted with data
compilation and analysis. V. Friesen and M. Haakensen performed
on-site assessments, experimental design, and data analyses. J.
Bergsveinson, V. Friesen, and M. Haakensen assisted in writing
and reviewing the manuscript. Kumtor Gold Company employ-
236 V. Friesen et al. / Ecological Engineering 100 (2017) 231–236
ees enabled site access and provided input on site-specific design
aspects.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in
the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.12.
029.
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Glossary
DO: Dissolved oxygen
ETP: Effluent treatment plant
HRT: Hydraulic retention time
ORP: Oxidative reduction potential
OTU: Operational taxonomic units
PTS: Passive treatment system (for water)